Pondering The Shadow

I was listening to a podcast this morning, and in it, part of the discussion revolved around shadow or dark side. It reminded me of something a dog trainer once told me. "Bite training isn't about training a dog to attack. A dog instinctively knows how to attack, and will attack whenever you, or it feels threatened. Bite training is about training a dog to attack, and to stand down on command. Once you've done this you can control how, and when the dog attacks, or not. Without it, you have no control over the dog's attack response." I think the shadow is much like this

Our dark side is always within us whether we acknowledge it or not. By exploring, and understanding it we become capable of deciding how, and when it's appropriate to express it. This allows us some measure of control over our dark side rather than being totally at it's mercy. We become somewhat more capable of wielding it (or not) with intention. Without that understanding our dark side will express itself instinctively, and uncontrollably whenever we're provoked

Fire for example can be wielded with thoughtful intention in the forge of a master blacksmith. With it, beautiful, and powerful tools, and treasures can be crafted. If wielded without control however, fire is a raging inferno that will consume, and destroy everything in it’s path. Think of the times in your life when you've been triggered, and ask yourself whether you were using your fire like a blacksmith, or burning down everything in your path

This is the foundation of the concept "Speak softly and carry a big stick." The big stick part is less important than the speak softly part. If you have the big stick, you usually don't need to use it, but if you do have to use it, make sure you know how